As entrepreneurs we are inspired by needs we discover and the wealth to be made in their fulfillment, but we don’t always act. While there are many reasons why, I want to put into your consciousness the power of “doubt”. But before we have that part of the conversation, I would ask you to consider three principles:
#1 – The success you desire is already there. You do not have to create it, just plan your path to it.
#2 – The only thing keeping you from the success you want is you!
#3 – 90% of everything we do is handled by our subconscious
With those precepts in mind, let’s discuss getting you to the level of success you desire. As we go through life, the experiences we have are moved from the consciousness of when we go through them to a memory in our subconscious. Those memories are used to build beliefs, values, and functions.
For example, as a toddler, taking your first steps happens in your conscious mind. As your parent moves you through the process your mind grabs the new data and stores it in your subconscious, which is why you begin to run soon after you’ve learned to walk. You no longer rely on the previous pattern of thinking through steps but use what you have already learned to try new variations.
In life and business, the same thing is true. When I first began bowling, I understood the concept of rolling the ball down the lane to knock over as many pins as possible. As I practiced more, I noticed subtle variants that affected my ability to accomplish the goal of knocking down pins with the fewest tries. Things like how the floor was oiled, whether my ball was clean, where I stood on the floor, whether the lanes were wood or synthetic, etc. Each variation was stored in my subconscious so that when I became a sanctioned professional bowler and traveled to a new bowling alley, I would instantly recognize which type of “house” we were in and which ball to use, where to stand, etc.
Your success journey is no different. After you have identified and visualized the level of success you want, you plan your journey and take advantage of the many experiences that are designed to move you forward. The key is being aware of what happened when the results were less than desirable and reprogramming your subconscious with the new data.
It is here that we must be aware of the power of “doubt”. If you had an experience that was very painful (emotionally or financially) it can cause you to question your abilities and cast doubt into your subconscious. This doubt can manifest itself in many traits including over analysis, hesitance, fear, and indecisiveness. I’m sure you have heard of the conditions “fear of failure” and “fear of success”. Both can be traced back to an experience that caused doubt or in some cases a lose of self-confidence.
I don’t want to seem as though I am downplaying the seriousness of either condition and I am a huge supporter of mental counseling, but I would like to leave you with a few strategies to help you move towards the success you seek.
- Read books, listen to podcasts, or watch videos of people who have achieved the level of success you aspire to and take notes. Make sure they share the same values because you can only be you, not them.
- Begin writing down your plan and start each day with a goal of accomplishment. This is the beginning of replacing the negative experiences in your subconscious with new data on how it can be done more effectively (conscious effort).
- Give your plan a timeline. Hold yourself accountable to improving and implementing the new data.
To show you how powerful subconscious programming is, I’ll share with you one of my stories. In professional bowling, one of the highest honors is bowling a perfect score (300) during league or tournament play. A 300 game is 12 consecutive strikes. I have missed a 300 during league play by one strike a dozen times. Of that dozen times, 10 happened where I would bowl eight strikes in a row and in the ninth frame leave one pin, then bowl three more strike in the 10th. What proves it was a subconscious block is the fact it was always the same pin (#10). Knowing what I know now, I should have taken steps to reprogram my mind about the 9th frame, but that is why I am posting this to help you get pass your block and reach your highest level of success.